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科学美国人60秒 SSS 意大利面谜题破解了

时间:2019-09-29 07:22:10

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

Physicists1 concern themselves with problems that are profound. The origins of the universe, the nature of time, the composition of matter. And then, there's spaghetti. A pasta problem has perplexed2 physicists as celebrated3 as Richard Feynman, and has even been awarded an Ig Nobel prize. At issue:

物理学家关心的是那些深奥的问题。比如,宇宙起源、时间的本质、物质的构成等等。还有,意大利面。意大利面问题困扰着像理查德·费曼这样著名的物理学家,这个问题甚至还获得了搞笑诺贝尔奖。他们关心的问题是:

"Why spaghetti doesn't break into two pieces. Why it breaks into three pieces or more."

“为什么意大利面不会断成两截?而是断成三截或更多?”

Ronald Heisser, now a grad student at Cornell, decided4 to explore the misbehavior of spaghetti for an undergraduate math course he took at MIT.

罗纳德·海瑟是康奈尔大学的在读研究生,他在麻省理工学院读本科时,决定在数学课程中研究意大利面的不正常现象。

Now, you may never have noticed it, but it's nearly impossible to break a single, dry piece of spaghetti in half. Feynman allegedly noodled with the puzzle. And Heisser became similarly possessed5.

到目前为止,你可能从未注意过这种现象,但是要将一根干意大利面掰成两段几乎是不可能的事情。据说费曼钻研过这个谜题。而海瑟也开始对这个谜题着迷。

"I'm a little bit of a contrarian person. So I thought it would be fun to try and break it into two. 'Cause no one said you couldn't do that. They just said why it doesn't break into two."

“我是有些逆向思维的人。所以,我认为试着将意大利面掰成两段会很有趣。因为没有人说过不能这样做。他们只是在问‘为什么意大利不能断成两截?'”

In fact, the French researchers who were awarded the Ig Nobel prize in 2006 found that when spaghetti is bent6 evenly from both ends it will crack near the center, where the stick is most curved. But this initial break sets up a vibrational7 wave that quickly fractures the rod further. So you get multiple fragments.

事实上,获得2006年搞笑诺贝尔奖的法国研究人员发现,当意大利从两端均匀弯曲时,会从最弯曲的中心位置附近断裂。但最初的断裂会产生振动波,使面条迅速继续断裂。这样一来,意大利面就会断成好几段。

What Heisser wondered was whether he could somehow get around this vibrational "snapback" effect. And he found you have to do the twist. Heisser built a device for torquing his pasta with precision and he observed the resulting fragmentation with a high-speed camera. He discovered that introducing a twist of around 360 degrees to the long strand8 allowed him to produce the desired single pair of pasta pieces.

海瑟想知道的是,他能否以某种方式避免这种振动“迅速回弹”效应。他发现,必须要将意大利弯曲。海瑟制造了一个精确弯曲意大利面的装置,他用高速摄像机观察了最终断裂结果。他发现,将一根长条意大利面扭转接近360度后,可以得到他想要的断成两段的意面。

That's where Vishal Patil, a grad student in mathematics at MIT, comes in:

然后,麻省理工学院的数学系研究生维沙尔·帕蒂尔加入了进来:

"So I first heard about this spaghetti problem from coauthors Ronald Heisser and Professor J?rn Dunkel when I first arrived at MIT...and after hearing about this problem, I became interested in developing mathematical models for the fracture of this elastic9 rod. And in particular, to see if using this model you could find out ways to control the fracture in the rod."

“我第一次听说意大利面问题,是我刚到麻省理工学院时,从该研究的共同作者罗纳德·海瑟和约恩·邓克尔教授那里听到的,听说这个问题之后,我开始对为这种弹性面条的断裂开发数学模型产生兴趣。特别是,我想看看能否用这个模型找到控制面条断裂的方法。”

Controlling fractures is a big issue in materials science and could have applications in everything from the design of highways and bridges to the engineering of nanotubes.

断裂控制在材料学中是一个重要问题,其可应用于从高速公路和桥梁设计到纳米管工程的各个领域。

Patil's modeling showed that twisting the spaghetti dampens the snapback effect. That's because once the twisted stick is broken, it will try to unwind. This rapid unwinding creates a "twisting wave" that basically blocks the vibrational snapback wave, leaving the spaghetti in two clean pieces. The work is served up in the Proceedings10 of the National Academy of Sciences.

帕蒂尔的模型显示,扭曲意大利面可抑制迅速回弹效应。这是因为被扭曲的面条一旦断裂,它会试图回到拉直状态。这种迅速的拉直会产生一种“扭转波”,它会阻止振动迅速回弹波,使意大利面只断成两截。这项研究发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。

VP: "Although the project was a bit of fun I think it's quite nice when you can find interesting physics and maths lurking11 behind everyday, sort of mundane12 objects."

维沙尔·帕蒂尔:“尽管这个项目有些好笑,但是我认为,当你发现日常的普通东西中隐藏着有趣的物理和数学知识时,真的会感到相当愉快。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 physicists 18316b43c980524885c1a898ed1528b1     
物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说,这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
  • Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。
2 perplexed A3Rz0     
adj.不知所措的
参考例句:
  • The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛,走了又回来,犹豫不决,总怕上当受骗。
  • The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。
3 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
参考例句:
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
4 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
5 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
6 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
7 vibrational b1e0aee04354f3f4282661cb6cb30ab1     
adj.振动的,摇摆的
参考例句:
  • However, heating energizes the vibrational, rotational, and electronic motions all at once. 但是,加热会一下子把振动、转动和电子运动统统加强。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
  • Such photons will excite the higher vibrational levels of the OH molecule. 这种光子会激发OH分子的较高振动能级。 来自辞典例句
8 strand 7GAzH     
vt.使(船)搁浅,使(某人)困于(某地)
参考例句:
  • She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
  • The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。
9 elastic Tjbzq     
n.橡皮圈,松紧带;adj.有弹性的;灵活的
参考例句:
  • Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
  • These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。
10 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
11 lurking 332fb85b4d0f64d0e0d1ef0d34ebcbe7     
潜在
参考例句:
  • Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的,想干什么?
  • There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
12 mundane F6NzJ     
adj.平凡的;尘世的;宇宙的
参考例句:
  • I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作,而不是一份平凡无奇的。
  • I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的,即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

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